He looked around, but saw that Lin Hongfeng did not show up. Instead, it was Cao Shupeng who came down from upstairs. He was stunned when he saw Lin Jianlan, then he showed a look of understanding, sat down under Cao Yinyin and said, "Boss, Tie Hall Master and others are in the branch hall and the executives are inseparable , so we are here to say goodbye to you now."
Cao Yinyin nodded and said, "Except for Yue Lingfeng and Fang Zheng, there are also several hall masters who were killed in the past. There are still six branch halls that have not arrived. I am afraid that they have been moved by Wan Jianhong. Even if they come again, they will be hesitant. It is useless for us to keep such people. They will definitely waver at the critical moment. Remember not to accept them again." He turned around and said to Tie Song gently, "Tie Hall Master, with your merits, you are more than qualified to be a protector, but the Yellow River area really cannot do without you."
Tie Song said, "I can't live without that piece of yellow soup either, so you don't have to be polite, gang leader." Seeing that he still spoke the same way as before, Lin Jianlan recalled the stormy drifting, how he tightly held on to the trouser legs of this godly man, and how the other hall masters had been very caring towards him along the way. It all seemed like yesterday, but it was now in the blink of an eye, and it was difficult to recall.
Cao Shupeng hesitated and said, "If we do this, we will be forced to push them towards Wan Jianhong and strengthen his influence, which will not benefit us in any way."
Cao Yinyin sneered and said, "The ancestors of the Lin family must have accumulated a lot of wealth to establish a gang. Starting from scratch is just a foolish dream. Wan Jianhong is just a pawn of others. If we don't let him make some moves, how can we find out who is backing him?"
Lin Jianlan listened to her speech, revealing a sense of maturity and calmness, and thought to himself: "I don't know when Yin Yin became so familiar with the affairs of the gang. She has a far-sighted view and handles things decisively, and she doesn't seem to tolerate any rebuttal. It's just that Cao Shupeng, as the current leader of the Jade Sword Sect and her uncle, is so obedient to her, which is unexpected."
While he was thinking, he heard Qin Tianxiong say, "There are guests in the hall, so we can't deal with these trivial matters in a hurry." The two stopped discussing, and Cao Yinyin turned back to look at Lin Jianlan and said, "I was interrupted by Madam Wan just now, and I didn't even ask Mr. Lin what . It was really rude." After that, he glanced at the wound on Lin Jianlan's chest, his eyes like deep into a cold pond, and said, "Is Mr. Lin's injury serious?"
Lin Jianlan said, "I have already pressed the acupuncture points to stop the bleeding. The wound is shallow and not serious. I also want to thank Yin... Gang Leader Cao for helping me." After changing his words, he was also stunned. He stared at Cao Yinyin for a while and said, "Why didn't I see Madam Cao?"
Cao Shupeng sneered, "Why would she come back?"
Lin Jianlan just remembered that day when Lin Hongfeng was heartbroken and sad. His words were still very impressive. He said that he might never come back to this sad place, but Yin Yin would come back one day with her own ability, and today she did it. However, this move really hurt the vitality of the Kuangyi Gang again. Zhang Hufa, Fang Tangzhu and Brother Yue, who were present in the past, were all gone. Other gangs were also divided into two, some still stayed in the gang, and some followed Wan Jianhong to create a new situation.
What worries Lin Jianlan most is the unknown whereabouts of Lin Longqing. Thinking of this, he feels a little sad. He stands up and says seriously, "I come here today, and I don't know what identity I should come to pay my respects. It's just that Qin Hufa and I have a teacher-student relationship, and my adoptive father and Gang Leader Cao's mother are siblings. I can call Gang Leader Cao my cousin, and I am not an outsider who has nothing to do with the Kuangyi Gang."
Everyone didn't know what he was trying to say. Cao Shupeng was getting impatient. Qin Tianxiong sat firmly on the chair and listened to Lin Jianlan, "However, to Uncle Qing, Aunt and Sister Yinyin are blood relatives. What do I, an adopted son, count as? Who is the leader of the Kuangyi Gang has nothing to do with me, and it's not my turn to say. I came here from Chang'an just to worry about Uncle Qing's safety. Please ask Guardian Qin and Gang Leader Cao to tell me his whereabouts so that I can go find him. If you can also tell us where the two hall masters Fang and Yue and Guardian Zhang have gone, I will be very grateful."
He had thought over these words along the way and thought they should be polite and tactful, and there would be no mistakes. However, he heard Cao Yinyin coldly say: "Mr. Lin is wrong. Although we are blood relatives, we are also blood enemies. If Mr. Lin can find the whereabouts of Lin Longqing, I am afraid I will have to ask Mr. Lin to tell me!"
Seeing that Cao Yinyin was calling him by his uncle's name, Lin Jianlan sighed, "Boss Cao, we have clarified everything that day. Are you and Madam Cao still so persistent? What will it take for you to let him go?"
Cao Yinyin was silent for a moment, then raised his eyes and said, "Some people carry hatred and think that killing the other party can eliminate the pain that is like being eaten by thousands of insects. But I understand very well that even if revenge is taken, the pain will not be eliminated but will be aggravated. But if revenge is not taken, the pain will be unbearable." Suddenly, someone smiled and said, "Besides, isn't the clearing of Lin Longqing's own reputation dependent on the tarnishing of my father's reputation? You are looking at people and things from Lin Longqing's perspective, so aren't your words too biased?"
Qin Tianxiong's face became even more serious after hearing this, while Cao Shupeng sneered and said, "Mr. Lin, as far as I know, you are just a country boy. Being adopted by Lin Longqing is a step up. How glorious were you during the Chang'an Beggars' Sect's Grand Ceremony? Now Lin Longqing can no longer cover you up. What? Are you a little uncomfortable? I know that you have some feelings for the Kuangyi Sect. You don't have to be embarrassed. If you want to be the leader of this sect, just take it back with your ability. Why bother to find a bunch of high-sounding reasons?"
Lin Jianlan's whole body trembled when he heard this, but he didn't even look at him. He just stared at Cao Yinyin's clear eyes and said, "I'm talking to the leader. What does it have to do with you? If you talk about ascending to heaven overnight, it's the Jade Sword Sect that has attached itself to the Kuangyi Gang that has ulterior motives! Yinyin, that's right. My grandmother and I are just ordinary people from the Liaodong countryside. I saved Leader Lin out of a moment of kindness, but because of this, I was implicated in your feud. Now my grandmother's whereabouts are unknown, and I don't know if the only relative who raised me since I was a child is still alive in this world. If I want revenge, what should I do? Who should I look for? Now Uncle Qing has lost his ancestral foundation and the affection of his closest relatives, and the leader of a gang is drifting away. Isn't that enough?"
Cao Shupeng was ridiculed by him in front of all the hall masters, and he was furious. Just when he was about to refute, Qin Tianxiong stopped him with a look. Cao said earnestly: "From the farce of Madam Wan seeking revenge for her daughter just now, I have seen that Master Lin is indeed a gentleman with an open mind. It's a pity that you don't seek revenge, which doesn't make me as generous as you. Although Master Lin's grandmother lost contact because of Doctor Cheng, it was after all because of my mother who brought you to Jiangnan. If you change your mind, you can seek revenge on me." After that, he glanced at Lin Jianlan's surroundings and said, "Deputy Gang Leader, Master Lin doesn't seem to have brought any weapons with him. Who of you can lend him a weapon?"
Lin Jianlan stood there in a daze, listening to her cold tone of voice without a trace of emotion, as if he was already accustomed to this kind of vendetta. Then he saw Qin Tianxiong standing up from his seat with a frown on his brow, with a very solemn expression, and thought to himself: "Oh, so he is the deputy gang leader. No wonder, his status is naturally much higher than before when he was under Uncle Qing." But he heard him say: "I have always relied on a pair of bare hands and never carried any weapons with me." After saying that, he looked at Cao Shupeng.
Cao Shupeng said: "People who practice swordplay always keep their swords with them. I'm sorry I can't lend it to you." The others also looked embarrassed and said nothing.
Lin Jianlan didn't know what to do. He was afraid that he would not be able to find out anything on this trip. Although he had been trying his best to act calmly, he was still a young man. Even if he didn't want to fight, he didn't want to walk out of the gate of the Kuangyi Gang in disgrace, which would make people laugh at him. He was afraid that Cao Yinyin would look down on him. After thinking about it, he gritted his teeth and smiled, "The long sword of that brother just now is very good. I will borrow it for use."
Cao Yinyin said, "Mr. Lin may be arrogant, but I don't want to defeat you with the sharp weapon in my hand. An ordinary sword is just like scrap metal to me. We need to be more cautious. Deputy Gang Leader, please take Mr. Lin to the warehouse to choose a suitable weapon, so as to avoid people saying that we won unfairly."
Lin Jianlan saw that her attitude seemed to force him to fight her, but the funny thing was, what kind of revenge did he want from her? Just as Abbot Tanzong said, everything was due to fate, and it seemed that everyone had some responsibility, and it couldn't be completely pushed onto one person. The reason why my grandmother lost contact was also partly because I trusted Dr. Cheng too much and asked him to bring my grandmother to Jiangnan. Didn't I sometimes feel resentful and regretful? I never had any hatred towards Lin Hongfeng, not to mention that she was as young as me at the time and had lost her father?
Seeing that Qin Tianxiong had turned and walked out the door, Lin Jianlan had no time to think about it. He could only look back at Cao Yinyin and hurriedly followed him.
He had often passed by the storehouse before, but the door was always locked and he could not enter. At that time, he just thought that there might be a lot of gold, silver, jewelry, and martial arts secrets placed here, just like a treasure house, and he wanted to go in and take a look. At this moment, Lin Jianlan silently watched Qin Tianxiong's back fiddling in front of the storehouse door, but he felt indescribable bitterness. He didn't know how it came to this point today, and he had to fight with Yin Yin for no reason. He just felt it was ridiculous.
Qin Tianxiong had already opened the door and stepped aside with a normal look on his face. It was impossible to tell what he thought about the upcoming fight. Lin Jianlan had no choice but to walk in dejectedly. Sure enough, there was a smell of dust in the face. He took a quick look around and found that the items near the door were very messy. As he walked further in, he could gradually see some order. It was not as gaudy as he had imagined in the past.
At the end are some jars and pots arranged in different categories, probably they are some medicinal herbs that are hard to get at ordinary times. On the right side are several books. Looking closely, they are not secret manuals, but very common mental methods and boxing techniques. The order of arrangement is slightly different from the usual one, it is not classified like boxing techniques in one place and sword techniques in another, but they are arranged according to the advancement of martial arts, as if you can see the path a person has taken to learn martial arts and the books he has read.
This arrangement seemed familiar. Lin Jianlan thought about it and suddenly realized. When he first came to Jiangnan, he saw Uncle Qing's bookshelf in the waterside pavilion arranged like this. It turned out that they were all arranged by Lin Hongfeng on a daily basis.
After Lin Hongfeng left, no one took care of the warehouse anymore, so the items piled up in front of the door were in a mess, and the dust seemed to herald the long-term loneliness of this place.
Turning his head sideways, there was a long table with scrolls stacked more than a foot high. Lin Jianlan flipped through them briefly. Some were martial arts diagrams, and some were calligraphy and paintings. At the corner of the table, there were dozens of long weapons, some of which were very strange in shape and could not be named. Along the wall, there were all kinds of weapons hanging all the way to the door. Lin Jianlan looked up and saw that most of them were swords, and some looked like swords but not swords, and like knives but not knives. He walked to the door without realizing it, and did not pick out a weapon. He was hesitating when he suddenly felt his feet trip. He looked down and saw that he had kicked two paper scrolls casually placed in the corner of the wall.
One of the paper rolls rolled to the ground and then slowly unfolded. After a moment, it stopped again, revealing half a word. Lin Jianlan looked at it intently and his heart moved. Although it was only half a word, he could already see the fierce murderous aura breaking through the paper, vigorous and heroic, the iron hook and steel stroke seemed to carve a mark on the paper. It was the couplet written by Lin Longqing hanging in the Kuang Yi Hall. It was carefully spread out and arranged, "Ten feet of soft red dust, happy to avenge gratitude and hatred; four words shocked the green forest, supporting justice."
Lin Jianlan's eyes were moistened, and he sighed, "Uncle Qing, how can you be happy?" After rolling up the scroll, he was a little confused about the one next to it. He thought that the two scrolls were rolled up with the upper and lower couplets respectively, but it seemed that they were not. It felt heavier than the previous one in his hand, and he hurriedly spread it out curiously. It was a couplet with the same words and sentences, but the strokes were very different. The font was not elegant and beautiful, but it was ethereal and out of the world, without any fighting spirit. However, every stroke was filled with a sense of reluctance, as if it was infinitely attached. It seemed that this was the couplet written by the master that Yue Lingfeng had mentioned that day. Comparing the two, it was indeed difficult to tell the difference. Although Uncle Qing's one was more suitable for a big gang, he felt that the latter one was more suitable for character.
Lin Jianlan pushed the scroll head on the spot, but it had enough force to roll it for quite a distance before it stopped. Just as Lin Jianlan was about to roll it up, he saw that the scroll head was not made of an ordinary log, but was wrapped around a sword. He was startled and suddenly heard Qin Tianxiong outside saying, "Mr. Lin, have you chosen yet?" Knowing that he had stayed in the storeroom for too long, he was very anxious. He hurriedly ran a few steps to pull out the long sword wrapped around the scroll head and took it in his hand. Without even looking at it, he walked out the door and said, "I've been delayed for too long. Thank you, Deputy Gang Leader Qin, for waiting for me. This is it."